Shoulder pads for use in the game of football typically include a pair of padded rigid arches or arch portions each terminating in the front with a chest plate and in the rear with a back plate. The front chest plates are typically connected with laces while the back plates are connected by straps extending between the back plates. Right and left shoulder protective epaulets are commonly secured to the top surface of a respective arch and padding is secured to the arch bottom surfaces to cushion the shoulder pad against the wearer's shoulder.
Two underarm straps are typically provided to further secure the shoulder pad to the wearer's body. The straps are commonly made of elastic webbing or a combination of elastic and non-elastic webbing. The straps are typically between about 1.5-2 inches in width. Each strap has one end secured to a respective back plate by a connector, such as a rivet. The other end of the strap is attached to the chest plate by a securing device described in more detail below. The shoulder pad is secured to the wearer's body by leading the straps under the wearer's arms and securing the second end to a respective chest plate. Tightening of the elastic strap secures the shoulder pad in place on the wearer's body.
The strap second end is typically attached to the respective chest plate by a securing device in the form of a hook or a slide device. In the trade, the hook devices are referred to as “T-hooks” while the slide devices are referred to as “keyhole” slides. The assignee of the application, Athletic Specialties, Inc. of Waucanda, Ill., has supplied these types of strap-securing devices to universities, high school athletic departments and other customers for many years. Representative examples of such devices are shown in FIGS. 2-4.
Keyhole-style strap-securing devices have a one-piece, unitary body which includes a slotted strap-engagement portion and a keyhole slide portion. The strap second end is led through the slots thereby securing the strap to the device. The keyhole slide portion is mated with a corresponding pin on the chest plate to secure the strap under the wearer's arm.
T-hook style strap-securing devices are available in two configurations. In one such configuration, the T-hook is made of a one-piece body with a slotted strap-engagement portion and a rigid T-shaped hook portion connected to the strap-engagement portion by an elongate rigid neck. The strap second end is led through the slots and is secured to the device as with the keyhole-type securing device. The T-shaped hook is then mated with a corresponding slot in the chest plate.
The second type of T-hook configuration comprises a strap-engagement member in the form of a “corset-style” catch and a swiveling T-shaped hook. The strap-engagement member of this type of T-hook consists of a D-shaped ring with a fixed jaw element and an opposed movable jaw element. The movable jaw element is loosely crimped at each end along opposed sides of the D-shaped ring permitting movement toward and away from the fixed jaw element. The strap second end is led behind the movable jaw element and then back between both jaw elements whereupon it is intended that the jaw elements clamp the strap in place. The T-shaped hook is then mated with a corresponding slot in the chest plate.
While these conventional securing devices are completely suitable for certain applications, they are not without potential limitations. For example, movement of the corset-style T-hook during use tends to loosen the grip of the movable jaw element causing the elastic strap to slip from the securing device. The wearer must periodically adjust the strap to compensate for the slippage in order to maintain proper fit of the shoulder pad. If the slippage is substantial, the strap may become completely desecured from the hook. Such desecuring disadvantageously requires that the wearer discontinue play while the shoulder pad strap is readjusted. Moreover, any desecuring of the strap-securing device can result in loss of such device rendering the shoulder pad unusable.
Typically, the wearer will attempt to prevent strap slippage by wrapping adhesive tape around the jaw elements to hold the jaw elements and strap in place. However, this is extremely disadvantageous because it prevents any adjustment of the strap length. As a result, the strap cannot be tightened should the strap become stretched and elongated after use and the strap cannot be lengthened if the wearer wishes to wear additional clothing, for example, additional layers of garments for playing the sport in cold weather conditions. When the shoulder pad is cleaned or reconditioned, the tape must be manually removed. This can be a laborious and time intensive process particularly where an entire team's collection of shoulder pads is being cleaned or refurbished.
Strap-securing devices with movable jaw elements involve potentially unnecessary manufacturing steps increasing the costs of such components. Separate bending steps are required to secure the movable jaw element to the D-shaped element. Moreover, the swiveling hook portion of such devices may consist of a single piece of metal folded back onto itself and welded together. Plural manufacturing steps are required to fabricate such devices and, of course, any additional manufacturing steps can increase the cost to manufacture the strap-securing device.
The strap-securing devices with one-piece body construction are limited in that they do not bend and straighten to conform to the movements of the wearer. Consequently, such devices could become disengaged from the respective slot or mating post during extreme wearer movements.
Further, stresses applied to the narrow neck portion of the T-shaped hooks with unitary bodies during extreme use could cause the device to break and fail. Any failure of the strap-securing device may result in the wearer having to withdraw from the game so that the shoulder pad or other equipment can be adjusted.
While not likely, it is possible for the rigid neck portions of the T-shaped hooks to become inserted into the slot on the shoulder pad chest pad in such a way that the device protrudes outwardly from the slot rather than lying flat against the chest plate. Any such protrusion could catch on the wearer's jersey, potentially tearing the jersey.
It would be a significant improvement in the art to provide an improved strap-securing device for securing a strap to a shoulder pad or the like which would provide a more secure connection between the shoulder pad straps and the shoulder pad, which would accommodate the wearer's movement and remain in place during extreme movement, which would lie flat on the wearer's chest plate and which would be sturdy and economical to manufacture.